Good Morning!Sin is a loathsome thing hated by God. The gospel is the “good news” that man can be delivered from sin’s bondage and damnation.

THE APOSTLES ATTITUDE TOWARDS SIN:Romans 6:22. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In this entire chapter Paul deals with the propensity of sin. Though our “old man” is conceived of as crucified with Christ, though this is theoretically and potentially our position yet our actual lives may be at variance with it; for we are still in our present “mortal body,” with its lusts remaining; and sin is still a power, not yet destroyed, which may, if we let it, have domination over us still.

Regeneration is not regarded as having changed our nature, or eradicated all our evil propensities, but as having introduced into us a higher power, “the power of his resurrection” Philippians 3:10, in virtue of which we may resist the attempted domination of sin. But it still rests with us whether we will give our allegiance to sin or to Christ.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit we learn to love holiness and to hate sin. In the same degree that we love righteousness we shall hate sin. This was the apostles' attitude toward sin. WHAT IS SIN? Sin is a single act or deed which violates the revealed will of God. Any act of disobedience to the will of God is sin. Since the will of God is revealed in His Word, anything that is done contrary to the Bible is sin.

Sin is deep seated, embedded in the very heart of man's fallen nature. This is the Adamic nature with which he is born. This nature is enmity against God. The state of sin in a person's life is the absence of righteousness. There can be no true righteousness apart from Jesus Christ. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life there is no true righteousness, and his heart is in a state of sin.

VICTORY OVER SIN: It is quite possible to live a holy life free from condemnation and guilt. This deliverance and freedom from the power of sin is found in Jesus Christ and in him alone. In Romans 6:12 we are exhorted not to let sin reign; we are to own no allegiance to it as a king whose rule we must obey. But it still will try to usurp lordship over us — in vain, however, if we resist the usurpation.

Good Morning!Divine healing was an integral part of the belief and practice of the early Church. The apostles did not take credit for miracles, but they did take full advantage of the interest and excitement aroused by miracles to preach the gospel.

HEALING IN THE CHURCH:James 5:14. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another,that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The Power And Value Of Intercessory Prayer: Healing for the body has always been one of God's ways of showing His power to men, and also a way of proving His great love and mercy for sinful mankind. Intercessory prayer may be viewed as aprivilege and work in which all can have their share. While Joshua is down in the valley fighting with Amalek, Moses on the mount must lift up holy hands to God in prayer; and when Moses lifted up his hands (Exodus 17:8), Joshua and Israel prevailed.

So with the Church’s warfare against her spiritual foes. Those who shall intercede and cry unto God day and night are needed equally with those who will bear the burden and heat of the day in the forefront of the battle. “They also serve who only stand and wait.” David also echoed this in 1 Samuel 30:24-25.

Healing And Forgiveness: In James 5:14-16. healing and forgiveness of sin are closely linked together. In verse 15 we read, "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." It is therefore possible, but not necessarily, that one can be sick because of sins committed, or also merely sick due to some ordinary factor. In either case, there is healing through faith and the prayer of faith.

However, those who have sinned are expected to confess their sins in order to obtain healing. This most necessary part of repentance is taught throughout the Bible. It is seen under the Law in the ordinance of the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:21), and in the directions with regard to the sin offering (Leviticus 5:1-5; Numbers 5:6-7).

Good Morning!The impossible things of humanity are made possible through faith in Jesus.

WHEN IMPOSSIBLE THINGS BECOME POSSIBLE:Mark 9:22b. “but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.23. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

In other words, our Lord said to him, “Believe in me, and your child shall be healed.” It was right that Jesus should demand faith in himself; for it was not fitting that he should confer his special benefits on those who disbelieved or doubted about him — that he should thrust his blessings on those who were unworthy of them. The answer of the father is touching and beautiful.

Greatly agitated, he cried out and said “with tears, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” It is as though he said, “I do believe; but my faith is weak. Do thou, therefore, increase and strengthen it; so that whatever there is in me of doubt or remaining unbelief may be taken away, and I may be worthy to obtain from thee this blessing for my son.” Nor can we doubt that Christ heard a prayer so humble and so fervent, and took away from him the last remains of doubt and unbelief.

Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him and enter no more into him. The rest of the narrative shows how malignant and powerful this evil spirit was, who dared so to resist and defy Christ that, in his departure out of the afflicted boy, he almost robbed him of life. Most unwillingly does the evil spirit depart, seeking to destroy that which he can no longer retain. This evil spirit possessed more than ordinary power as well as malignity, and that this was the reason why our Lord’s disciples could not cast him out; so that this expulsion needed the mighty arm of One stronger than the strong. The words in the Greek are powerful, severe, and authoritative: “He rebuked the unclean spirit,” “Thou dumb and deaf, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.”

This explains our Lord’s words when the disciples remarked afterwards, We could not cast it out... This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer and fasting; that is, this particular kind of malicious spirit. For there are different degrees of malice and energy in evil spirits as in evil men.

Good Morning!There are many ways to be lost, but there is only one way to be saved.

ZACCHAEUS; THE TRIUMPH OF EARNESTNESS:Luke 19:3. “And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.9.And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. 10. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Let us look at the triumph of earnestness. This man was rich (ver. 2). Riches are unfavorable to religious earnestness; we have Jesus’ own word for it (Luke 18:24). They present a very strong inducement to their owner to forsake the fountain of living waters, and to quench his thirst in the lower streams. Far too often they lead to luxury, to indulgence, to spiritual indifference. But Zacchaeus did not suffer this calamity to befall him, this fatal injury to be wrought upon him. His spiritual desire won the victory over his temporal circumstances.

For Zacchaeus IT LED TO NEWNESS OF LIFE. Zacchaeus from that day forth was a new man. His character was thenceforth determined: whatever selfishness or wrongness there had been, it should be renounced, and, where possible, reparation should be made. Character and life were to be cleansed and renewed; and Christ took him up into his favor and friendship. He was to be perfectly restored to the position he had lost. There is more joy in heaven over the sinner that repents, and the dead (in trespasses and sin) who are made alive, and the lost who are found, than over the ones who need no repentance.

This should make us all understand how desperately our Lord wants the Church to fulfill its divine purpose in reaching the lost. Heaven is made to rejoice when sinners repent, when the lost are found, if this is not happening, the real purpose and mission of the church is not fulfilled.

Let us take this lesson as God intended! Let us forget ourselves and stop all the other things that have had us side-tracked for so long and get on with our real mission, let us find that one which is lost and see the dead (in trespasses and sin) restored to their rightful place in the father's house.

Good Morning!We do not have to depend on our own efforts, but on the Arm of God for victory.

MORE THAN CONQUERORS:Romans 8:37. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The believers are an elite group since they have so freely received from the Lord a love that none other could give. Empowered by the Spirit to cope with the sufferings and to overcome the attack of the enemy, they are indeed the triumphant army. Taking not only the strongholds of Satan, but winning the victory in such a way as to effectively influence others in sin's death-grip to join the victor's march, they are of the grand persuasion that absolutely nothing will defeat them.

The Apostle Paul writes of his own persuasion, relative to things, places, people, time, or eternity, that nothing would be able to separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Christian should realize that God is on his side to help, and it is the expressed promise of God that he will have victory by faith and through the name of Jesus Christ. He is destined to be a conqueror.

Conquerors! Yes, and more than conquerors of our trials! We do more than vanquish them. We turn them, or rather the love of Christ turns them for us, into our friends. So Paul found it in his experience. So did many a child of God. Martin Luther was sent to prison in the Wartburg, apparently a heavy blow to himself and his friends, and the cause of the Reformation. But the love of Christ was stronger than the castle walls.

They could not keep Christ out. Luther was more than conqueror. He not only endured his confinement, but while he was there he translated the Scriptures into that great German version of his, and wrote besides some of his great commentaries.

The walls of Bedford Jail could not separate John Bunyan from the love of Christ, and during his imprisonment he wrote that matchless allegory, ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress.’ Samuel Rutherford, a prisoner in Aberdeen Castle, wrote his beautiful ‘Letters,’ of which Richard Baxter said that, after the Bible, such a book the world never saw. All these were more than conquerors through him that loved them.

Good Morning!When the attitude is right, trials, tests, and times of suffering are not in vain. These things can be a help on the journey to the city of God. The worst thing about suffering, is not the suffering itself, but the fact that a person does not learn a valuable lesson through the experience.

OUR CROSS IS BORNE BUT FOR A MOMENT, OUR CROWN IS FOREVER:2 Corinthians 4:16. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Paul’s troubles were exceedingly heavy. So have been the troubles of many believers and are. The sufferings of saints often seem severer than those of sinners. For them the furnace is made seven times hotter. But Paul with his heavy sorrows speaks of them as light, and speaks of them as they really seemed to him to be under the conditions to which he refers. No affliction could well be heavier than his, and yet it was light. So is the believer’s, when he considers during how small a portion of His life it has to be borne.

It is but “for a moment.” Not so long as a second contrasted with a thousand years. Eternity makes time short. Our troubles are like Pharaoh’s horsemen — they cannot pass the Red Sea of death. In this flash of our existence we may weep, but in the ever continuing life of heaven we shall rejoice.

Nobody, whether saint or sinner, can escape the times of trial that are sure to come as we journey down life's road. Suffering is a part of life. Trials, testings, and chastisement are inevitable. God has ordained it to be this way. When you and I came to God in obedience to the Gospel call, we came in the rough. We came as simply raw material from which our Lord could work. We came with inward impurities, frayed edges, an unpolished surface--much work needed to be done.

Sufferings which come our way are only intended by God to be a furnace of refinement for our lives. Oftentimes, what we believe are tragedies are only blessings in disguise, and the very opportunities through which God wishes to exhibit His love and grace.

Good Morning!The desire of the Christian should be to live a life that would be pleasing to God and a testimony to men.

PLEASING GOD:1 Corinthians 6:20. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”1 Thessalonians 4:1. “Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God,so ye would abound more and more.”

Paul is saying, “In order that you may be established un-blamably in holiness at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, you must do your part, you must earnestly strive after holiness.” It is the desire of every honest-hearted Christian to please God. The Love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost is the motivating factor in pleasing our Lord. The Word of God clearly reveals the power and principles of holiness in our daily lives.

YE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE: Here Paul gives us the reason why we are to endeavor to please God. That price is the “precious blood” of Christ, wherewith he purchased the Church. Glorify God; by behaving as his redeemed children, and therefore by keeping yourselves pure. It is a property of Christ. It is “for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.” It is not ours; we are its trustees, not its proprietors; we hold it “for the Lord,” and we should use it according to his directions.

It is his will that it should be used by the soul to convey from the external universe quickening and hallowing impressions of the Divine, and used to express and develop the holy thoughts and purposes which such impressions should produce. It is to let in God to the soul and to reveal God to our race. “So ye would abound more and more.”

Holiness in the inward man will reveal itself in outward living. We become an example of a believer by the way we manifest Christ. As we reflect Christ in the way we live, He will draw the sinner to Himself. There is nothing that pleases God any more than for us to become soul winners. If we keep His commandments and please Him, we have a great promise given to us: “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” (1 John 3:22)

Good Morning!Every church member is personality responsible to grow spiritually.

GROWING INTO SPIRITUAL MATURITY:Ephesians 4:13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:15. but, holding the truth in love, we may grow up to him in all things, who is the head, the Christ: 16. from whom the whole body, fitted together, and connected by every joint of supply, according to [the] working in [its] measure of each one part, works for itself the increase of the body to its self-building up in love.

FOR BUILDING UP THE CHURCH: If the Church is to be edified (built up), there must be men and women of maturity to build. Moreover, they are the foundational, faithful material upon which a Church is built. Only the mature can assume the responsibility and follow through. Therefore, each member of the Church needs to strive toward maturity. The Church is the sum total of its members in this respect.

If a congregation consists of immature people, then it is an immature rarely does the spiritually immature person realize his immaturity. Usually simple awareness of a lack of maturity is motivation enough to prompt development. But then development rarely goes beyond the point of which one is aware of his need. As a whole the church grows when an individual member grows.

Christ is the sole Source of vital influence, and ministers are the main instruments of its transmission, the whole body is to be self-edifying, intelligently and consciously moving on towards the grand consummation (ver. 16). Ministers do not differ in kind from the members. They have got special gifts for the edifying of the body, but every part of the body has got some gift for the same end.

All ought to conspire harmoniously together, keeping in view the grand consummation. Churches and members of Churches must not be content with any inferior aim, but habitually and earnestly move on toward perfection. And for this the Spirit of love is indispensable.

The Church cannot edify itself except in love. Strife and division are sure to arise, and these are not edifying, but disintegrating. One great lesson here is that, as Christ is the Truth, so he also is the Life. The gospel as a system of truth has Christ in the center; so the Church as a living agency has Christ in the center.

Good Morning!The faith once delivered to the saints is the only foundation for growth and security.

THE COMMON SALVATION:Jude 3. “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faithwhich was once delivered unto the saints.4.For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

URGENT REASONS FOR SPIRITUAL VIGILANCE AND COURAGE; Jude does not allude to any persecution outside the Church which demanded steadfastness and decision; but he points to those adversaries who with policy and cunning climbed up some other way, and were dangerous because their corruption of the Christian doctrine and of personal conduct proved them to be enemies of the cross of Christ.

These men entered into the Church, as the serpent into Paradise, to tempt and seduce believers from the truth. They were the apostles of Satan, and turned the glorious grace of the gospel, which was given to deliver from sin, into indulgence in sensual pleasure,

Jude's epistle contains only one chapter, but it is filled with timely admonitions and exhortations. He spoke of the common salvation. He warned of the need of earnestly contending for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. This, we must do, because ungodly men have crept in unawares, and are teaching erroneous and hurtful doctrines.

The faith is the same for Christians of all generations. Jude also urged Christians to build themselves up on their most holy faith. How? By praying in the Holy Ghost, and by constantly studying the word of God. Every Christian who does not do this will find himself weak and rundown spiritually.

Finally, Jude taught how the Christian can be secure in the faith. He keeps himself by doing those things that enable the power of God to keep him. He who is so kept will, at last, be presented faultless before the presence of God. What we believe is the foundation; what we build on it is our life. This is in the line of Jude’s thought. It is not those alone that sin hard who are lost, but those also who do not bestir themselves. Let us, then, make every effort to keep ourselves out of the love of self, and in the love of God.

Good Morning!The only assurance we have of not being deceived is a knowledge ofand a love for truth.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUTH:John 8:32. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Man is by nature, whilst in this fallen state, under bondage to law, to sin, to condemnation. The Jewish leaders, of our Lord’s day, asserted a certain liberty. Relying upon their descent from Abraham, and their consequent privileges in connection with the old covenant, the Jews claimed to be free men yet could not own the fact that they were in bondage to the Romans, and in a worse bondage spiritually. Our Lord Christ, who brings truth to the understanding and love to the heart, brings also the highest freedom to the active nature and life of man, and thus secures the prevalence of holiness, of willing and cheerful obedience to God.

To know truth a man must look to the Word of God. Jesus in His Prayer of intercession, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth” (John 17:17).There is One God. This is one of the greatest truths of all ages. The recognition of Jesus Christ as the express image of this One God is the very foundation of all Bible Doctrine.“For in him, (Jesus Christ) dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

To understand the basic truth Jesus told Nicodemus, “a man must be born again.” The New Birth opens eyes to the spiritual truth of the Scriptures. A man must, however, qualify himself for eternal life by not only being Born again, but by a walk of obedience to the truth of God's Word.

RESULTS OF FREEDOM ARE PROMISED: The emancipated from Satan’s service become God’s willing bondmen. Then, from being God’s servants, they become his sons. As his sons, they are his heirs, and being such, they in due time enjoy the inheritance. This is liberty indeed — to pass from bondage unto Satan into the “glorious liberty of the sons of God.” He smites the tyrant who lords it over the spiritual captives; he cancels our sentence of slavery; he breaks our fetters; he calls us freemen, and treats us as such; he enlivens us with the spirit of liberty.

Good Morning!The Christian's peace is grounded upon this fact that his source of supply will never give out. God's grace, for every need of every man, is boundless and limitless. “My grace is sufficient for thee…” (11 Corinthians 12:9)

THE WONDROUS GRACE OF GOD:Titus 2:11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

It was said that in heaven there was once a great debate as to who was the greatest monument to God's grace. All sins and secrets were revealed as the redeemed sought to pay tribute to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. One after another related the sin or transgression out of which Christ had delivered him. At length the choice seemed to be settling down upon one man who apparently had committed all sins.

Iniquity after iniquity he related as he turned over the ghastly pages of his autobiography. And then he related how at the close of his misspent life, Christ came. He was baptized in water, in the Name of Jesus, and received the Holy Ghost as promised.

But just before the vote was taken another of the redeemed stepped forward and was asked to tell his story. It was this: He had come to know and love Christ as a little child, obeyed Him in water and the in-filling of the Holy Spirit and had followed Him all the days of his life. By God's grace, the little boy had been kept from the sins and transgressions of which the other had spoken. Then the vote was taken; and it was not the drunkard, the thief, the adulterer, the perjurer, the murder, or the blasphemer, but the man who had followed Christ all his days and had been kept by His grace who was selected as the greatest monument to the grace of God.

“Looking for the blessed hope and manifestation of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” This attitude of blessed expectation tells powerfully upon the life of grace. The believer’s position is that of waiting for and looking unto the coming of the Lord. The patriarchs waited for his first coming; we wait for his second coming.

Good Morning!There is no word more vivid, more rich in the world of our language than the word grace. It denotes kindness of disposition, goodness of heart, gentleness and compassion that flows like a well, ceaselessly, toward those who need it most and deserve it least.

WHAT GRACE BROUGHT:Titus 3:3. For we ourselves also were sometimes (habitually) foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. 3:4. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 3:5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 3:6. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 3:7. That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

It may be difficult for many of us to look back upon our former life of sin and indulgence and many other things that were habitually a part of our life. But God in mercy spoke to our heart and delivered us from those wicked ways. It was by the grace (divine favor) that God had mercy on us. We didn’t deserve the treatment God gave us, we deserved punishment, but God in his kindness had mercy on us. It is only by the grace of God that we are what we are, saved, regenerated, and renewed by the infilling with the Holy Ghost.

The ‘Grace of God’ here spoken of is that divine favor to, and love for, men upon which the whole work of redemption was based, the object of which redemption was the ultimate restoration of man. The epiphany, or manifestation of this grace to the world, commenced with the incarnation of our Lord. The ‘grace’ alone brings salvation to all men--in other words, it is only that grace of God whereby it is possible for mankind to be saved. Will not you have mercy upon your fellow-men?

Will not you, for whom the Divine gentleness and patience has done so much, be gentle and patient too? Will not you, humble in the remembrance of your own sins, and abashed at the thought of your own unworthiness, deal meekly and kindly even with unruly and sinful men, and cherish the hope that God’s boundless grace may at last reach them, even as it reached you?

Good Morning!The believers were first called Christians at the city of Antioch. This was the result of these disciples being Christians first. Christ was put first in their lives--they lived like Christ.

DEFINITION OF A CHRISTIAN:Titus 2:7. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8. Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

I estimate a true Church, not by the number of its members, the apparent earnestness of its devotions, or the amount of its contributions, but by the number of its professors who are too truthful to lie, too honest to defraud, too morally noble to do or to countenance a mean or a dishonorable act — to whom, in short, all worldly wealth and power, and life itself, are held cheap as dirt compared with the right. When Churches are made up of such members, then, and not until then, they will command the confidence, the sympathy, the trade, and the influence of the world.

A Christian: He has a mind and knows it He has a will and shows it;He sees his way, and goes it;He draws a line and toes it;He has a charge and takes it,A friendly hand and shakes it,A rule and never breaks it;If there's no time, he makes it.

He loves the truth, stands by it,Nor never tries to shy it,Whoever may defy it,Or openly deny it.

He hears a lie and slays it;And as I've heard him praise it,He knows the game and plays it;He sees the path Christ trod,And grips the hand of God. (From Christian Digest)

Good Morning!A leading churchman recently said: “To our forefathers ChristianFaith was an experience. To our fathers it was an inheritance. To most of us it is an inconvenience. To our children it has become a nuisance.”

IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIAN TEACHING:Titus 2:2. That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;4. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

Some live one way at church, and another way at home, but the true child of God is the same everywhere, everyday, under all circumstances. What an honor, when preacher's children want to be involved in the ministry, and the children of faithful saints grow up to be faithful also. When it is lived before them, they also want it for their lives.

This matter of self-control flows so beautifully throughout today's Devotional. Aged men and women must control themselves so as to teach and be examples to others. Younger men and women are to exercise self-control so as to be able to stay close to God in a spiritual relationship. The direction our young people take is influenced greatly by what happens in front of them at home.

Paul lived in an age when ‘true love’ was almost an unknown experience. It was a pagan world where empathy barely existed. Babies born into some households were simply tossed away, men were cruel to their wives. Christianity was born in this kind of world, and it used its experience to teach the world what real love meant. Young women had to be taught how to love their husbands, their children and not to destroy them. True love still needs to be taught. Mothers are still suffocating their new born. How we need teachers of the young to be kind, and how to love, and not to throw themselves away on drugs, and alcohol, illicit things, which will only bring degrading circumstances to them.

Good Morning!Doctrine that will stand the test of God's searching light, that is sound in faith and in speech is sound doctrine. A church that is taught sound doctrine will become a strong and victorious church.

SOUND DOCTRINE:Titus 2:1. But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

Paul’s eloquent tongue, pouring forth the riches of knowledge of an enlightenedheart, could speak of God’s love to man, of his eternal purposes, of hispredestinating grace, of the coming and kingdom of the Lord Jesus, of theresurrection of the dead, of the inheritance of the saints in light, in words ofwisdom and power certainly not inferior to those of the very chiefest apostles of Christ. Paul could soar to higher heights in this than any man.

And yet, in dealing with the practical duties of Christian men and women, and in teaching morality as an essential part of Christianity, there is a particularity of detail, a searching application of truth, an earnest tone of warning and of exhortation, which could not be exceeded by any teacher of ethics who knew of nothing else but human conduct and the present interests of society. With Paul, familiarity with the highest doctrines of revelation does not depreciate the importance of the humblest duties of daily life; it rather magnifies it, and raises those duties from an earthly to a heavenly platform.

When one is not dedicated to sound doctrine, he is usually lacking in holiness. To good works he is reprobate. He literally abhors strong standards that keep the church, pure, clean, and unspotted from the world. The reason some do not want true doctrine is because when Acts 2:38 is preached in its entirety, it is also necessary to teach strongly against sins that easily beset, and all ungodliness and worldly lusts. It has been said that we should not teach doctrine because it divides and separates, but in Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the APOSTLES' DOCTRINE and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

If doctrine separates, why did the believers continue steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship? They did it because this is the only way one can be saved. No other doctrines, creeds, dogmas, or ceremonies will save. It must be the apostles' doctrine! Be glad for a love for doctrine that is true! In this way you are not saying one thing with the lips and professing something else by your life.

Good Morning!In the life of the saint there is a time to “follow after…” a time to “fight for,” and a time to “flee from.” The true disciple must live close to His Master so that he may know what do in any circumstance.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAINTS:1 Timothy 4:12. “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”

First, there are things that all saved people must make up their minds that they will avoid and flee from as they would from the very fires of hell itself. First among these would be all manner of sin and iniquity, all unrighteousness, all heresy or false doctrine, and anything and everything that is displeasing to God.

Second, everyone must avoid all forms of self-righteousness. The great sin of the Pharisees was that they trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Hypocrisy can be a condemning sin as it was for those who crucified Jesus. They perished because of their self-righteousness which was actually hypocrisy.

Third, unless a genuine effort is made to follow after holiness and righteousness, it will never be attained. It is true that we are partakers of His righteousness, but we must also follow after righteousness, so that our conduct will harmonize with that which is imputed to us. In other words when our hearts are right with God, we seek to live lives that are pleasing in His sight. The Faith that brings salvation, as well as every benefit of Calvary, is worth a struggle. It is a struggle of the intellect as well as the emotions.

Paul says, “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is.” God created us, and not we ourselves. Better to be born and to die in the same hour, than to live on through weary years, if human life has not a heavenly purpose in it. The Gospel has always had the promise of the life that now is; it saves men from selfishness and sin, as well as from eternal torment.

The gospel is unique; it stands alone. It has done more for this sin-stricken world than any words of man can tell. And Christ still lives on, and his Spirit is one of restraint in men. Through all the years we have had one being, and through the dark arch of death it flows on into the life that is to come.

Good Morning!Worship has been described as “a man climbing the altar stairs of God.” Praise belongeth to God, and should be rendered to God by all mankind, in every way, at all times, and in any situation.

Psalm 150 is part of the “Hallelujah Group” of Psalms (Psalms 146-150). The very title of this Daily Devotion suggests its major message. “Hallelujah”is a praise to Jehovah. The word “anyhow” suggests a problem, a need, a burden. Praise is a part of the saint's life. God is so great and good, He is worthy of praise. The redeemed and delivered are so glad for their freedom from sin, and they are so grateful to God they want to give praise and glory to the Lord. Praise can and should be rendered even in our troubles and problems, for He will be with us. Our sorrows and adversities can be great blessings and teach us God's way!

No Psalm rises more grandly from verse to verse than 150, or terminates in a nobler or grander climax, “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.” “Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary,Praise him in the firmament of his power,Praise him for his mighty acts,Praise him according to his excellent greatness,Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,Praise him with the timbrel and dance,Praise him with stringed instruments and organs,Praise him upon the loud cymbals,Praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals,Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.”

Revelation 5:13, “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever;”Praise ye the Lord.” As the life of the faithful, and the history of the Church, so also the Psalmist, with all its cries from the depths, runs out in a “Hallelujah Anyhow!”

Good Morning!Corruption in business and government has become a way of life.For the Christian it is not so. Not only is honesty the best policy,but it is the principle by which a Christian lives.

HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY:Romans 13:13. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.14. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.”

The title of today's Daily Devotion comes from an often quoted maxim of Ben Franklin's, “Honesty is the best policy.”But the Christian's view of honesty must be greater than that of a policy. Honesty is first of all a matter of the heart. It is more than a policy that a person is to follow; It is the foundational stone upon which a Christian builds his life. Dishonesty is based upon lies and deceit. “And all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire Revelation 21:8.

Dishonesty is common to all cultures and nations, but the person wanting to be saved must be delivered from the Satanic power of deceit. He must renounce fraud and business schemes that emanates from a greedy heart. He must not lie, steal, or live the life of a hypocrite. God had called him to be a holy vessel to carry His image to lost humanity. Honestly has its rewards in this life as well as the life to come.It brings honor, dignity, and majesty to any life. It will also nurture the Word of God to produce the fruit of eternal life.

Paul give a call to Christ-likeness. “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.” That is to say, “Be clothed with his spirit.” This is the secret of strength. the man who is Christ-like in spirit will overcome all temptations, and will wrestle victoriously with all difficulties. Jesus is to be our clothing and adornment; the pure, spiritual nature which he showed to the world is to be our attire.

First be honest with yourself and you cannot help being honest with every man.

Good Morning!The disciples had followed the Lord for three and one-half years and their confidence in his ability to answer any need had become securely established.

CONFIRMING THE WORD:Mark 16:20. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Why had Jesus condescended to live upon earth, to endure a ministry of humiliation, to endure unequalled woes, to die a death of ignominy and of shame? Surely not that after his departure from earth all things might be as before. But rather and only that, as the great foreseen result, of his earthly advent and ministry, a new and heavenly power might be introduced into humanity, a new spiritual kingdom might be set up in the world.

Hence the gospel which he caused to be proclaimed, the commission which he entrusted to his disciples and especially his apostles. Hence the authority Jesus entrusted to his servants, and the vast sphere he contemplated for their labors of witness and of work.

To whom they were to take it. “To the whole creation,” to all mankind, of every race and people. “Freely,” said Christ, “ye have received; freely give.” Not to ministers only, but the whole Church, receives this sacred trust. There is no middle course supposed. Belief and baptism are the condition of salvation; disbelief ensures condemnation. We may well admire the wisdom and the condescending compassion which determined such a condition as faith as the condition upon which the highest spiritual blessings may be enjoyed.

It is possible to the youngest, to the least learned, to the feeblest of men. Yet it is a mighty principle; being able, when directed towards a Divine Savior, to secure all good which man can need and God can give, both for time and for eternity.

“The Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” They had power to exorcise demons, power to speak with tongues, immunity from harm by poison or by serpent-bite, the ministry of supernatural healing. If there be truth declared, revealed, and if there be a nature capable of receiving, feeling, responding to truth, there is one all-sufficient explanation of this wonderful and beneficent correspondence, and that is, the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit of God. The ascension of Jesus changed the life of the apostles, and through them, the history of the world.

Good Morning!Although David was a man after God's own heart, he still fell into the depths of sin. His repentance, however, showed the depth of his character. David's need and desire was for the full salvation whichwe today enjoy.

THE SENSITIVE SOUL:Psalm 51:1. (To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

Time would fail us to fully explore the rich spiritual treasures of this Psalm. There is more, much more here that could be expounded upon. David was a man of spiritual wealth. His insight into the things of God revealed a greater knowledge of God and His plan for man than any other man of his day and few of his dispensation had.

Nowhere in the Old Testament Scriptures do we find so profound depth and tenderness of penitence, joined with such childlike faith in God’s pardoning mercy. If the dark record of David’s crime had been silently omitted, we should have been utterly at a loss to understand this psalm. Who could have thought that from the same harp which uttered the sweet strain of Psalm 23, could proceed so deep a wail of grief and self-abasement?

Yet it is just because David’s joy in God and love to God were so real that his repentance was so bitter. No hypocrite could have penned this psalm. Any one who calls David a hypocrite shows dense ignorance of human nature. It is impossible that an ungodly man could have written this Psalm.

In this Psalm, David cries out from the depth of this heart for the true Bible Salvation, which we of the New Testament age enjoy. David's admission of guilt, and promise of a changed life, reveal the sincerity of his repentance. His cry for God to wash him, speaks of the work of baptism. His prayer that God would give him a new heart, and a right spirit, are acts of God that can only be accomplished by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Today's Devotion should cause us to be indeed thankful for full salvation.

Good Morning!Jesus’ return is near. The wise will watch and wait, the foolish will sleep and be left behind.

JESUS IS COMING:Luke 21:26. “Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.27. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

Signs of the time daily point to the soon return of the Lord for His Church. Because He has delayed His coming, many have grown cold and apathetic, but He is coming at an hour when men are not looking for Him. It will be a time of gladness, for some, but a time of sadness for others. The Scriptures does not tell us to try and predict the time of His coming. It does, however, teach us to be ready at all times. To watch and pray is to be wise--to sleep is to be left behind when the Bridegroom comes. There is no place in the Master's kingdom for His Church to relax.

“Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Jesus Christ led his disciples to think that beyond the redemption which he was working out for them, and subsequent to it in time, was another great deliverance which should prove of unspeakable value to them. This is true now of our discipleship; we look for and we sorely need a second redemption. But the second redemption is not distinctively and primarily that of the soul; it is to be “the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23).

It is something that at any moment we may be within a step of the heavenly sphere; for anything we know, Christ may be about to say concerning us, “This day ye shall be with me in Paradise.” It is more that we may be confident that a life of holy activity will rapidly pass away and bring us to the day of rest and of reward. It is very much indeed that the duration of the blessed future will prove to be such that any number of years of earthly trouble will be nothing in comparison.

It is also a truth full of hope and healing that every day spent in faithful service or patient waiting brings us that distance nearer to the blessedness that lies beyond. “We nightly pitch our moving tent A day’s march nearer home.”

Good Morning!Jesus is to be the King of kings and Lord of lords. He came the firsttime in humility and was rejected. His second coming will be withpower and glory, and the rejected One will become the ruling One.

KING JESUS:1 Timothy 6:13a. “I give thee charge in the sight of God, 14. That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15. Which in his times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate (the Wielder of power), the King of kings, and Lord of lords;16. Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

The final event of the day, on the occasion of a great gladiatorial show, was the coming forward of Caesar, in circumstances of pomp, to crown, or otherwise reward, the victors. So the final event of time will be the coming forward of our Lord Jesus Christ (as from looking on) to crown the victors in the good fight of the faith. It would be the proudest moment of a man’s life when he was called forth to receive the prize from the hand of his emperor. So it will be a moment of greatest satisfaction to the believer when he is called forth (as by the herald proclaiming his name before a great assemblage) to receive the crown from the hand of his Lord.

All honor and power eternal, then, be to this God. We may judge of what the appearing is to be that is to be effected by One in whose praise the apostle breaks forth in so lofty a strain. We may conclude that it is to be the grandest display of the honor and power of God. And what a privilege that the humble believer — victor in the battle of life — is to be called forth before an assembled universe, under the presidency of Jesus and by the hand of Jesus, to be crowned with the life eternal! Let every one add his Amen to the ascription of honor and power to God, as displayed in the appearing of Jesus.

When Jesus revealed Himself to the world, He came as humbly as was possible. He came in humility and was rejected. When He comes the second time it will be with power. He came to the world in love and mercy. When He comes the second time, it will be in judgment.

Good Morning!God desires to dwell in the hearts of men, but men have polluted their hearts just as the Jews had contaminated their temple. The heart must be cleansed before Jesus comes in.

THE DWELLING PLACE OF GOD:1 Corinthians 3:16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

“The temple of God is holy.” It deserves to be regarded with reverence. Men treat with respect the palaces of kings. Of how much deeper a reverence is that true palace of God, that temple of the Holy Ghost, that home of Christ, deserving! It should not be defiled or destroyed. Every member of Christ’s Church is called upon to purify himself, lest his impurity should dishonor the sacred edifice. “Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, forever!”

The music that fills these courts is the anthem of adoration, the harmony of imperishable love. Worship is here not occasional, not frequent, but unceasing; there is no moment when this spiritual temple is not telling the praises of the Lord.

Jesus is not pleased with the defilement of any of our temples. He desires to occupy our houses of flesh, but we cannot have two masters on the Throne in the heart. Jesus will cleanse our temples and keep them clean, if we will let him. He so strongly desires to dwell in us that He was willing to make the trip from Glory to Golgotha to make it possible. He will cleanse the fleshly temple through repentance and the remission of sin through baptism in His name. He will deliver from defiling habits and demon possession. He will transform the heart and liberate the soul.

All of this is not the end, but the means. Purifying is insufficient, and even detrimental, unless the temple is filled with His Spirit. The goal of all the purging of dead works is the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Have you received the Holy Ghost, since you were cleansed through Repentance, and baptism in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Good Morning!Discipleship is the principle by which believes are still being called, trained and released into the service of God's Kingdom.

THE CHOSEN:Mark 6:7. And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;12. And they went out, and preached that men should repent. 13. And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.

The twelve disciples now first became apostles (one sent). This sending forth was a prelude to their life-long mission, to be fulfilled alter their Lord’s ascension. They had now been long enough with the Master not only to have imbibed much of his spirit, but to have learned the nature of his ministry and to have entered into its methods. Their evangelistic journey would be disciplinary to themselves and profitable to the population of Galilee, and it would increase and extend the interest of the people in the ministry of the Lord.

He sent them forth, but his spiritual presence went with them. It was only of what he had given that they could communicate to others, and as he accompanied their efforts with his power.

Although the word disciple does not appear in the epistles, it does appear some twenty-eight times in the Acts of the Apostles indicating that discipleship was an intricate part of the life of the early Church. The transition from Acts to the epistles indicates that discipleship is a means that changes one from a follower to a leader,from one ministered to one who ministers..

Disciples are those who transfer their lives in Christ to someone else. They reproduce themselves. The goal of discipleship is that of transferring one's life in Christ to another so that he may in turn implant his life in yet another. The command to go and make disciples has never been rescinded. The Church really has no alternative than giving top priority to seeing it carried out. Discipleship is not a method or a program. It is rather doing the works of the Master.

Good Morning!Satan is a strong, but a defeated foe. Christ in the Church and in the saint is stronger than the adversary. Through the Spirit we can be kept free from Satan, and we can overcome him.

THE LIFE OF MAN UPON EARTH IS A WARFARE:1 John 4:4. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

As long as we live in this world we cannot escape suffering and temptation. Everyone, therefore, must guard against temptation and must watch in prayer lest the devil, who never sleeps but goes about seeking whom he may devour, find occasion to deceive him. No one is so perfect or so holy but he is sometimes tempted; man cannot be altogether free from temptation.

Yet temptations, though troublesome and severe, are often useful to a man, for in them he is humbled, purified, and instructed. The saints all passed through many temptations and trials to profit by them, while those who could not resist became reprobate and fell away.

There is no state so holy, no place so secret that temptations and trials will not come. Man is never safe from them as long as he lives, for they come from within us -- in sin we were born. When one temptation or trial passes, another comes; we shall always have something to suffer because we have lost the state of original blessedness. The devil is real. He exits. Never deny that fact. In realizing that fact, however, always place beside it the fact that Jesus is real. He lives. Moreover, He is the stronger of the two. Yes, the devil is powerful, but Jesus is all powerful. The devil can possess lives and influence people, but Jesus can cleanse lives and transform people.

While the world may appear to be becoming more and more wicked to those who have not placed their faith in Christ; hope burns bright for those who have felt the glories of the new life which is in Christ Jesus. God's children are engaged in an incessant warfare. Our adversary, the devil, is an implacable foe. In our warfare no armistice can be declared. Some are lulled to sleep by the smoothness and graciousness of false religionists who deny the existence of our adversary. It is hazardous for God's children to cease to be watchful and wakeful.